 It is now time for Earl questions and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Thanks very much. Thanks very much, Speaker. Speaker, my first question this morning is for the Premier. We all know that PSWs and nurses have been the frontline healthcare heroes throughout this pandemic, but they work in absolutely terrible conditions, conditions that none of us would want to be working in. Yesterday's announcement frankly neglected these heroes. The pandemic pay bump for PSWs expires at the end of this month and so my question to the Premier is why won't he say yes to a permanent pay increase for Ontario's PSWs, the heroes of this pandemic? Well thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the opposition for that ridiculous question there because we've been there from day one for the PSWs. They voted no for four hours of extended care. They voted no to give them the bump of $3 and I can assure you Mr. Speaker that I've said from day one the PSWs are overworked, underpaid and we're going to make sure we make them whole. They're always going to have that bump. We will make it permanent, but I got to ask the opposition Mr. Speaker why every single thing we've done no matter if it's increasing the ICU beds to 3100 beds increasing the health budget by billions of dollars it was no, no, no. Everything's no without a solution from the leader of the opposition. We're a party of yes, we're supporting the PSWs, we'll always have their backs. Supplementary question. Well Speaker PSWs know very well who's been fighting for them all along but here we are again. Every few months PSWs have to wait and see if this government will do the right thing but this government has never done right by our PSWs. Let's not forget that they couldn't even access PPE at the beginning of this pandemic in fact well into it and people who are PSWs actually lost their lives as a result of this government's negligence. The least that this Premier could do is stop threatening that they will have their pay increase clawed back every couple of months because that's what they're living with right now. Why is it so easy for this Premier to say yes to his buddies and no to permanent pay increases for PSWs? Mr. Applaud. Through you Mr. Speaker we invested $270 million yesterday. We're investing $4.9 billion that the opposition voted against. They voted against that four hours of care they voted against Mr. Speaker they voted against 27,000 new PSWs and nurses. We're the first in the country first in North America to have four hours of care. We're the first to go in there to make sure that the environment is a lot better by making sure the filtration systems are clear. We're putting air conditioning in every single long term care home across the country but guess what Mr. Speaker it's no no no with the leader of the opposition. Do you know what the leader of the opposition does? She uses the PSWs a bunch of props. We care for the PSWs. That's the difference between the opposition and our government Mr. Speaker. The truth is that in fact PSWs know it family members know it residents know it this government has no intention of getting four hours to four hours of hands-on care until 2026 or later. So let's be real about what's going on here. The recruitment and retention of these workers is not going to happen without PSWs workers knowing that the government actually has their backs. In fact here is what the union representing the frontline workers the frontline PSWs say and it's a SEIU health care and I quote absent in today's announcement is any action to improve the abhorrent conditions of work that still exist in Ontario's long term care homes the time to stop protecting the greedy interest of the big nursing home chains who simply want more discretionary spending should have ended long ago. I agree wholeheartedly with these remarks. The question to the Premier is when will he actually say yes to PSWs give them that permanent pay raise instead of boosting profits for his buddies that run long term care homes. Mr. Speaker I don't know why the leader of the opposition won't take yes for an answer. I think the Premier was clear but she wants to quote some union leaders so let me do that for her. This is Jerry Dias president of Unifor you may have heard of him. The minister's announcement is a step in the right direction helping long term care workers provide residents with adequate care they deserve. This announcement moves us closer to achieving the minimum of four hours of care that's from Navine Rizzi the regional director of Unifor. Now this is Candice Renek she's the secretary treasurer of CUPI in Ontario you know them. We're encouraged to learn that this government is finally taking the necessary steps to enshrine four hours of care and commitment into legislation. This is an important and long awaited step. We will look for the leader of the opposition's support for that part of the bill to come and finally it is crucial that the government acts fast to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable citizens and the frontline heroes. We are glad to finally see a government that is following up on its words and doing something that's smoky. Thomas the president of Opsu. Mr. Speaker. Stop the clock and I'll remind the members to make their comments through the chair. Restart the clock. The next question the leader of the opposition. Thanks so much speaker my next question is to the premier but I can tell you we wait with anticipation the details of this government's plan. Let's hope it takes the profits out of long term care. My next question however is on the autism issue on Ontario families are still waiting desperately for autism services for their kids in this province. The throne speech didn't even deign to mention helping children and families with autism. The wait list for help continues to grow and it has now reached over 40,000 children waiting for services. Why didn't the premier even mention autism in the throne speech and why are so many families still desperately waiting for services for their children. Ottawa West Nippian, parliamentary assistant. Speaker and thank you to the leader of the official opposition for that question. Of course our government is extremely proud that we took action to double the Ontario autism programs budget from $300 million to $600 million. And then on top of that speaker our government has been working to implement a new Ontario autism program that was designed by folks from the autism community, people with autism themselves, clinicians, researchers, agency directors, all of them came together in our Ontario autism panel to provide recommendations on this new program that we are in the process of implementing. In the new program families will have access to an expanded set of core services including ABA therapy, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, and mental health services. This is the first time that families through the OAP will have access to this expanded list of services. I'm extremely proud of the work that our government is doing to reform this program and I'll be pleased to speak further in the supplementary. Well, Speaker, the families that have children with autism are certainly very, very concerned about this government's lack of action. The Premier continues to say no to helping them to ensure that their kids get the services they need. In fact, we all saw when a mom named Stacey Kennedy camped out at the Premier's office for six days. That's after four years of not getting services for her kids' needs. Stacey's words are this. The system is broken and it needs to change. The former child and youth advocate actually finally, somebody came to help because the Premier didn't. He showed up to help and she was very grateful about that and only after Irwin Elman, the former child advocate, showed up to help Stacey did the Premier bother to even speak to her. But they didn't help her. She still is without help for her child. Moms like Stacey deserve better speaker. When will the Premier ensure that parents don't have to camp out at his office to try to get some attention for their children? Thank you, Speaker. And of course, our hearts go out to Stacey Kennedy and her son, Sam. We want to make sure that all families with children with autism like Stacey and her son, Sam, are getting the support that they need. I know that the Premier, Minister Fullerton, and myself have all had a chance to speak to Stacey and speak about some of the reforms that are underway to the Ontario Autism Program to expand a little bit further on this expansion of services that is underway, Speaker. Families, as I mentioned in the previous question, are going to be able to access core services. But on top of that, Speaker, families are also going to have access to a number of other pillars of the new Ontario Autism Program. They'll have access to foundational family services, which we launched last year to help families support their child's learning and development at home. They're going to have access to early intervention services to help young children access services at critical points in their development. And, Speaker, they're going to have access to urgent and complex services. Thank you. Thank you very much. The final supplement. Speaker, families with children with autism need supports now, not sometime in the future. They've needed them for years and years and years because they'd never have to come to Queen's Park again. No, apparently now they have to go to his office to try to get some attention. That is not acceptable, Speaker. The problem keeps getting worse, and this government has made brutal cuts to autism. In March of 2019, in fact, the wait list was 20,000 people, Speaker, 20,000 children, children waiting for service. Now it's 40,000 plus children waiting for autism services in this province. Families are desperate. Moms are camping out at the Premier's office in Stacey's words, and I agree with her wholeheartedly, it is scandalous. Why? Why, Speaker? Is it always no for families like Stacey's for children with autism from this Premier, but it's always yes for his buddies. Thank you so much, Speaker. Of course, as a brother of a young man with autism, I know how important it is to make sure that we are delivering these services. My family has been fighting for these services for over 25 years, and that's why I'm incredibly proud to stand in this chamber with a government that doubled the Ontario autism budget to $600 million. Today, Speaker, three times more children are receiving support than at any point under any previous government in this province. That means 37,000 children are now receiving support through existing behaviour plans, childhood budgets, and interim one-time funding, including the children that are currently being moved in to the new Ontario autism programme, a world-class programme that will make Ontario a leader in autism services worldwide. Speaker, there is still work to be done. We are on our way. We've got a solid plan designed by the community for the community, and we're going to continue to implement that plan. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Energy. More than three years ago, your government ran on a promise to lower gas prices for people living across the province, including those living in the north. In my writing, the town of Espanola saw gas prices as high as 147.9 per litre this week. This was also the average price of gas in Sudbury, White River 157.9, Manitouage 153.9. Gas prices across the province are reaching a 10-year high, and in the north, we are still paying the highest price for gas in this province. What is the government doing for the people in living in Northern Ontario to end price gouging at the pumps? Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The member will know that one of the first actions that we took when we came into government was to take away those extra taxes on the people of the province of Ontario that were causing gas prices to go up. And again, it was the opposition that said no. They said no. They wanted those gas prices to continue to go up. They wanted the people of the province of Ontario to continue to pay higher prices for gas, Mr Speaker. We said that was wrong. We support those industries, Mr Speaker. We know how important it is that the oil and gas sector is to the economy of the province of Ontario, how important it is to the economy of the entire nation, Mr Speaker. And that is why we support initiatives to expand exploration. That is why we have explored options to increase supply to the people of the province of Ontario. But on every single measure, it is the opposition that votes against it, that works against it, Mr Speaker. We will continue to work for the people of Northern Ontario. We will continue to work for those enterprises across this province that rely on this industry, Mr Speaker, because it's good for Canada, it's good for Ontario, and it's good for jobs and economic growth. Order. Mr Speaker, a supplementary question. Minister of Energy, winter is quickly approaching and Northern families are facing higher prices for everything from home heating to gasoline to groceries. Not only are prices hitting highs in the north, they are rising across the province. Yesterday in Toronto, the average price of gas was $1.449 per liter, which is a record high for the GTA. This government has our bill, the fairness in petroleum product pricing act, which would allow the Ontario Energy Board to regulate the retail and wholesale markup of petroleum products in Ontario. Families in Ontario literally cannot afford the price of more talk without action. While the minister commits, will the minister commit to working with the official opposition to pass legislation so that we can give a break to hard working families across this province? Mr Speaker, you know what will help hard working families across this province? What will work for hard working families across this province is continuing to support a government that reduces their taxes. One of the first things that we brought forward here in this place was to fight the carbon tax. We said at that time and continue to say today that carbon tax would cost the people of the province of Ontario, would cost Canadians on everything, whether they went shopping, whether they went to drop off their kids at soccer games, that would cost people massive amounts of money and we are seeing it every single day the cost of a carbon tax to the people of the province of Ontario. You want to help the people of the province of Ontario, the NDP want to help, stop saying no Mr Speaker, stop saying yes to helping hard working Ontarians, help us to fight the carbon tax. We said it would cost Ontarians we are now seeing the impact of those costs on every single thing that Ontarians do, so we will continue to fight that federal carbon tax. It is not the right approach for the people of the province of Ontario and I ask the member to join us, not only for the north but for all Ontarians. Thank you very much. Next question. Member for Sarnia Lampton. Mr Speaker, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Minister, in my writing I hear first hand about the challenges smaller employers face when it comes to keeping people safe and staying open throughout this pandemic. They have done an exceptional job throughout COVID-19. Will the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development please tell this House how we are supporting these businesses and helping them keep everyone safe. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Thank you to my good friend the great member from Sarnia Lampton for that excellent question. Mr Speaker, since the start of this pandemic, our government made a promise to keep all workers safe. Recently we announced the hiring of 100 new health and safety inspectors which brings the total to 507 which is the largest in provincial history. I should add that in no thanks to the opposition members who voted against this very important measure in the beginning of the pandemic. Mr Speaker, they voted against inspectors to keep workers safe when Ontario workers needed them the most. Our government will always stand up for protecting the hardworking men and women of this province. We remain focused on keeping everyone safe. In fact, since March of 2020 we've now completed more than 65,000 workplace inspections issued over 80,000 orders and stopped unsafe work more than 100 times. Thank you Mr Speaker. Supplementary question. Well thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for that reassuring answer. Mr Speaker, we've made huge progress by working collaboratively with labour leaders, business and all levels of government. So I'm pleased to hear that this government is going to do even more to support the workers and businesses in Ontario. Small businesses have been doing the best they can through this pandemic. I can think of many owners across Sarnia-Lampton who have pulled all the stops to keep their workers and their customers safe. Can the minister of labour please tell us how his ministry is providing main street with the resources they need. Thank you. Mr Labour. Well thanks again to the member from Sarnia-Lampton for that important question. I want to thank on behalf of Premier Ford and our government, all employers especially our shopkeepers and merchants for stepping up during this incredibly difficult time to keep our economy going and preserving the dignity and livelihoods of the workers that you employ. I know many of these entrepreneurs don't have large HR departments like big corporations do. That's why I'm delighted to share that we've introduced a new free online tool to help employers build custom safety plans for their workplaces. This portal will help hundreds of businesses with confidence that they're following the latest health and safety measures for their workers and customers. I encourage everyone to try out the tool for themselves at Ontario.ca forward slash Covid safety. Thank you very much. The next question is from the member from London. Thank you Speaker. And my question is to the Premier. Ontarians still have concerns about the statistical curiosities over in the PC caucus. I've said that too many people are saying they're exempt from vaccines. There's supposed to be only two reasons someone can get a medical exemption. And the exemptions are supposed to be few and far between. One in a hundred thousand. Not one in thirty five. We asked yesterday if the Premier would commit to reviewing those exemptions but the only response we got was a shrug. It appears that people can get exemptions for anything that's ever going to evaluate this. Isn't the Premier worried that people are going to take his silence as permission to break the rules? I ask the Premier to please give us a response. Thank you very much Mr Speaker. I think I answered this clearly yesterday. A medical exemption obviously somebody who requires a medical exemption they will approach their medical professional to give that exemption. I think the Chief Medical Officer of Health has made it clear what those exemptions are. I don't think it is for members of provincial Parliament to be deciding if somebody should be getting a medical exemption or not. I trust that the medical professionals are the best suited to be doing that work. Thank you. Mr Speaker, in Saskatchewan Scott Mow fired one of his MLAs for not telling the truth about their vaccine status. Here though the Premier said it's fine for folks not to tell the truth. We need to have an exemption for it. As MPPs we're supposed to provide leadership. We're supposed to set the tone. The people of Ontario look to us for guidance but instead of showing leadership and saying no to people who think the rules don't apply to them the Premier seems to be saying yes to special rules for PC MPPs. This is what happens when there's no province-wide system for validating exemptions. Why won't the Premier do the right thing and ensure that everyone across Ontario is playing by the same rules when it comes to vaccine requirements and exemptions. Mr Speaker, I think we've been very clear. I know the Premier has the Minister of Health as and everybody on this side of the house has been very clear in that we think the best way to fight this pandemic is to be able to get the vaccines in your arm. We showed remarkable progress on this Mr Speaker. I think somewhat close to 87% of Ontarians have received one dose a little over 82% have received a second dose Mr Speaker but there are those individuals who require medical exemption. The Chief Medical Officer of Health has advised what those exemptions should be Mr Speaker. I'm now just hearing for the first time that the NDP would seek to fire individuals who have valid medical exemptions from their jobs. That's not something that we are going to do Mr Speaker. We'll continue to work with the Chief Medical Officer of Health as we have done throughout this pandemic to ensure that we have the best vaccinations rates in the entire country Mr Speaker to make sure that we continue to support all of those people who are impacted by the pandemic but to be clear we are not going to have a system in place where somebody with a medical exemption is fired from their job because the opposition is asked. The next question the member for Ottawa's Health. My question is for the Premier and I do have to say it's really hard for families to listen to the answer on the Ontario Autism Program given that waitlist has gone from 1,000 to almost 50,000. So Speaker, last week the government announced that COVID-19 vaccinations will become mandatory for everyone working in long-term care and while that's welcome news it comes months too late. We knew last spring we needed to do this to protect vulnerable residents and yet inexplicably the government waited too long and that allowed the disease to spread outbreaks to happen and people to die. For months now Ontario's nurses Ontario's doctors, Ontario's hospitals Ontario's families have been asking to make vaccinations mandatory for all frontline healthcare workers in every setting. Why is it that this government has to be screaming and kicking to do the right thing to keep people safe from COVID-19? So Speaker through you will the Premier do the right thing and makes vaccines mandatory for frontline healthcare and education workers? Mr. Long-Term Care Mr. Speaker I do understand the member from Ottawa's south interest in making things look worse than they may be but Mr. Speaker what we all know is and through the great work of our frontline healthcare workers our public health officials and Ontarians everywhere Ontario has some of the lowest infection rates per 100,000 not just in Canada but across North America Mr. Speaker but nonetheless back in July even though Ontario long-term care homes also had vaccination rates for staff we did start to monitor on a home-by-home basis and in consultation with my colleagues we decided that although vaccination rates were at 90% there were some outliers that's why we made the choice following the data looking on a home-by-home basis to expand vaccinations and ensure that we put the safety of our long-term care residents that are at risk at the top of the priorities Mr. Speaker we also I'm happy to report with this opportunity have 86% of eligible residents now in Ontario long-term care homes so Mr. Speaker we consistently are taking the steps to protect long-term care thank you I'm certainly not going to minimize outbreaks happening people getting sick and people dying and I don't think the minister should be doing that and I understand that the premier believes that making vaccinations mandatory is going to come at a political cost I think he's wrong and that's why this afternoon I'll be introducing legislation to make vaccination mandatory for all frontline workers in healthcare and education in all settings and I'm doing that speaker because I think families deserve to know that the person who's caring for their loved one in a hospital or at home that that person's been vaccinated or that the person who's helping their child in school that that person's been vaccinated too or the childcare worker who's in the childcare center that that person's been vaccinated I think that that's all reasonable to come down to protecting those people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 seniors and children under 11 that's the cost question so speaker through you what will it take for this government to do the right thing and make vaccinations mandatory for all frontline workers in healthcare and education I ask you again premier minister of health our government's top priority from the beginning of this pandemic has been the health and safety of all Ontarians and that's why we introduced the vaccination program that we have with some of the highest rates of vaccinated people in the world not just in Canada we're continuing with that we're on our last mile strategy to get to 90% on both first and second doses but the reality is that the people in our long-term care homes are the most vulnerable they are the ones where we have seen breakouts happen where we need to make sure we can protect them that is why the minister of long-term care has created mandatory vaccine policy to make sure those people are safe and to introduce the third and booster dose but rest assured should we see a similar situation unfolding and we're watching this very carefully on a daily basis we won't hesitate to introduce it elsewhere right now though the top priority is people in our long-term care homes those are the people that we need to protect we saw that the third booster dose was recommended for them they are receiving the booster dose and we will continue to protect you thank you very much the next question the member for Oakville thank you speaker my question is for the minister of economic development job creation and trade the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on Ontario workers and small businesses for the past 18 months business owners and workers have made tremendous sacrifices to keep our neighbours and communities safe the people of Ontario have rallied together to get through this unprecedented crisis and throughout our government has been there for Ontarians can the minister please update this house on what steps our government is taking to support businesses and workers through this last model of this pandemic Minister of economic development job creation and trade to respond our government is making the necessary investments to support the people of Ontario during this crisis and into the future investments like the 51 billion dollars in our COVID-19 action plan which included 23.3 billion to protect the economy and the good paying jobs in Ontario investments like the additional 50 million dollars into the renewed Ontario together fund with a focus on supporting homegrown manufacturing and innovation to combat COVID-19 this will provide goods critical to the health, our safety and security of Ontarians beyond the pandemic our government is doing what it takes to protect the people of today and into the future after 18 months of fighting this pandemic we owe the families, we owe the businesses the stability and certainly and unlike the other parties this is exactly what our government is delivering supplementary questions thank you speaker and thank you minister we've come a long way since the early days of the pandemic when the first cases of COVID-19 were identified here in Canada our government has never hesitated to do what was necessary to fight this pandemic putting the health of the people of Ontario first with more and more Ontarians stepping up to get vaccinated and as we turn our attention to the future Minister of economic development job creation and trade update the House on what our government is doing to ensure an economic recovery for individuals and families in my community of Oakville North Burlington and in every part of the province great question Minister of economic development families can rest assured that our path to recovery will be fueled by economic growth rather than tax hikes or spending cuts the pandemic our government is working for the people of Ontario to ensure that we remain the economic engine of Canada and we've already taken steps by reducing the cost of doing business in the profits of Ontario by $7 billion each and every year that includes lowering the WSIB premiums by over $2.4 billion without reducing benefits we allow same year costs for equipment and that reduces the cost of business by a further $1 billion annually we took action to fix the Liberals hydro mess by lowering industrial and commercial hydro rates by 14 and 16% respectively and our plan is working large scale auto investments in places like Windsor, Oshawa Oakville and others are proof that we are unleashing Ontario next question good morning speaker question to the premier vision is a key for development for children as over 80% of children's learning is based on vision Dr. Sabry pediatric ophthalmologist at McMaster Children's hospital tells us more than a third of in business children have farsightedness more than three times higher than non in business children research also shows that in business children experience very high levels of astigmatism and uncorrected fractive error speaker right now parents across Q it and can't get their children the eye care they need because this government won't negotiate a fair deal with the optometrists will this government fund the optometry services that our kids need and deserve thank you very much to the member for the question you're absolutely right that children across the province require services of optometrists as too many seniors and that's why we were extremely disappointed that the optometrists have chosen to withhold publicly funded or OHIP funded services for children and for seniors this is something that is very unfortunate because we are not withholding services the government is not withholding these publicly funded services it's simply that the optometrists have decided that they are not going to provide them we are ready, willing and able to return to the mediation table to assess the issues that optometrists have there's no question that they were not fairly dealt with by the previous government but we are ready to remedy those wrongs we are ready to go back to the table with them to negotiate a fair deal to listen to what they have to say and we're asking for the optometrists to please come back to the table so we can do just that thank you this supplementary question me quite to the minister for the response children need your help we know that eye care is healthcare and curetnook doctors have shared with me with their concerns about the high incidence of eye disease and extra care needed in the region people in curetnook are among the sickest in Canada elders and seniors right across the north need regular eye care exams because of the diseases they have because of COVID and now this they have been waiting for 2 years now why does this government say no when it comes to ensuring everyone can access essential eye and vision care they need again the minister our government is actually saying yes we want to come back to the table we recognize that indigenous children need access to eye care back in school many of them require glasses for example we also know that there are seniors that have cataract and other problems other vision problems where they need to be served that's why we're asking the optometrists to please come back to the mediation table there's only one party there we are ready to go there we have agreed with the mediators requirements for considering going back into mediation we want to do that we want to address the issues of the past which we have with the payment of the $39 million we want to go forward with starting with an 8.48% increase retroactive to April 1st and we want to discuss the overhead issues that optometrists wish to discuss so we are ready willing and able to proceed we're asking to the optometrists to please come back to the table thank you the next question the member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell thank you Mr. Thank you Mr. Speaker we heard a speech from the throne this week we saw that the situation is not good there was a motion for for the Laurasian University but worse again the government is not even ready to address a word in French we understood that there were no federal intention the government continued to repeat the information but they did not do a single thing for francophones in Ontario except attacking them how can they tell us they are progressing when we cannot see actions thank you thank you for your question but this is not true we worked for the francophone and you saw it in this house you can look at the French flag in this house there's also the minister for the francophone affairs the minister for the tourism all of them did a lot of work for the ontario for the ontarian population many ministers of the government made announcement it is crucial for our government we will continue to make the francophone community a very important part of Ontario we know that they are important for economic growth they are important an important part of what makes this province a great response and unlike the previous government who said a lot it did nothing we will take actions for that community Mr President thank you Mr Speaker it's been three years and a half that the PC said they were an act of love for francophone they promised however it wasn't the case we have been waiting for three years and a half Mr Speaker when will the government act before the presidential election we started from the get go we started with the resources there are matters and issues for francophone and they are the same as the one in other provinces they want a strong economy and we invested not only for Ontarians but also for francophones the minister of francophone a very important investment opportunity specifically for francophone businesses Mr Speaker when I look at the member's own writing the minister of tourism made sure that $92,000 for the festival de la Cour de Saint Albert $848,700 to group convicts in Prescott and also the optimism to the club Mr Speaker so we're going to continue to make it's not just about francophone flag and recognizing it as an official symbol of the province of Ontario that's important to the community it's about doing the right thing thank you the next question thank you Speaker my question is for the minister of heritage, sport, tourism industry the tourism industry continues to be among the hardest hit sectors from the COVID-19 pandemic businesses that have contributed to their communities and regions for years have faced the toughest 18 months of their lives pre-pandemic these tourism businesses were major contributors to the economy by creating jobs and bringing visitors to their regions many continue to fight for their lives through you Speaker can the minister please tell us how the government is working to ensure that these key tourism businesses are able to not only survive the pandemic but recover and get back to being key economic drivers in our communities Minister Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries thank you very much Speaker I want to thank the member from Ottawa West Nippian for his very thoughtful question I want to thank the Minister of Culture and Culture Industries in our city of Ottawa the third largest sector in Ottawa is this sector and that's why we have made significant investments with Ottawa Tourism investing over $6 million this summer in order for them to have business to business relationships around the world system with marketing and of course making sure that they have the opportunity to hire really incredible staff to get back to business of course there is no doubt the hardest hit sectors because they are high touch they are high volume and have dealt with the brunt of the public health restrictions but we are getting back to business we have invested $100 million in four different tiers with massive flexibility for many different tourism attractions including airlines and entertainment we have invested over $50 million in investments across the province of Ontario and we have put out almost $100 million in small business grants we are back in business we are out ahead and so I'm excited that this member in our party is asking the critical questions about how we can best support those tourism operators across the province thank you the supplementary question well thank you minister for that response this funding is welcome support to key tourism businesses across Ontario including in our hometown of Ottawa the minister and I had the chance to visit with many of these businesses in Ottawa this summer when we did a tour of the byword market that these businesses need support so they can once again take their place as an economic driver in their communities however we know that the Ontario tourism industry is built on a number of different size tourism businesses and so through you speaker I'm wondering if the minister can tell us how the government has supported all tourism businesses suffering from the impacts of COVID-19 and the member is right we had the opportunity to tour and rediscover Ontario in our own hometown I also had the opportunity to travel for the last 16 weeks across this magnificent province looking at some of the most incredible assets that we have whether it's natural or our art galleries or our museums or even some of the tourism attractions I actually did tree top trekking with the attorney general and that was quite frightening one of the things I mentioned as I said we've invested 100 million dollars into a tourism recovery fund for for profit businesses this week every member of this legislature was able to announce in their own communities 46 million dollars to community building fund applications and successful recipients who are not for profit who are just as critical to the well-being and the social well-being of this province including the art gallery of Ottawa and of course the minister responsible for children and community and social services Deepenbunker in her riding of Canada Carlton so I'm very excited speaker that we are working with our travel agents and organizations across this province so that when we can come back we come back much better thank you next question member for London West thank you very much speaker my question is to the premier speaker this government's failure to implement vaccine mandates and health care and education is hurting patients and students in my community Diane Sims is a palliative care patient who relies on multiple home care visits each day because of her fragile condition Diane's doctor recommended that only vaccinated workers come into her home but her home care agency was unable to make this happen Diane's husband is now forced to provide her care speaker with vaccine mandates finally in long-term care homes more unvaccinated psw's will move to home care putting more patients at risk when will this government implement vaccine mandates in home and community care to protect vulnerable patients like Diane Minister of Health thank you very much to the member for the question this is a situation that we're analyzing on a daily basis as you know we have one of the most successful vaccination rates in in the country and in the world and we have introduced some mandatory vaccination requirements for entering into certain settings and as a result since the last mile strategy was in August 24th approximately 365,700 first doses and approximately 525,900 second doses have been administered so more and more Ontarians are stepping up to be vaccinated but we have started with the long-term care homes because long-term care home residents have been uniquely and disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and since we are seeing some outbreaks we are taking these steps now with our most vulnerable in our long-term care homes and I'll have more to say in the supplementary Speaker it's not just patients it's students too who are being hurt by an inconsistent patchwork of vaccination policies the London Area Student Athletic Association Thames Valley Regional Athletics made vaccines mandatory for players coaches and volunteers but since school boards do not all have the same requirements the TVRA announced that students would not be competing in high-level western Ontario and provincial competitions stating that travelling to other locations in Ontario does not support safe regional play at this time that was the right call Speaker but after all that student athletes have been through it is another blow why is this government refusing to listen to parents and education workers who are calling for Ontario-wide vaccine mandates in our schools we're listening to parents, educators we're listening to experts in epidemiology we are listening to the comments that are made by the people who are knowledgeable in these areas they have recommended that we commence with a mandatory vaccination of people working in long-term care homes because the residents are so vulnerable that's why we've also introduced the third or booster dose there however other groups and organizations have the ability to put in place additional policies and procedures based on local context such as Sick Kids Hospital which quickly implemented mandatory vaccination to protect children under 11 who are unable to be vaccinated this is something that the local medical officers of health are viewing very carefully in their local units as is our chief medical officer of health and we are following their requirements and their recommendations that is something that we will do to protect the health and well-being of all Ontarians going forward next member to ask a question the member for Cambridge in 2018 in full campaign mode the Premier said quote there's billions of dollars being wasted the taxpayer's money is over once in power three years later the Premier has made sure the party is roaring more loudly than ever before just before we broke for summer recess the government reintroduced the practice of using taxpayer money by the millions to fund the operations of political parties as they please this was a policy the Premier had vowed to end why does the Premier think it's acceptable to use millions in taxpayer dollars to fund the operations of political parties at a time when many taxpayers haven't been able to go to work or being fired from their jobs because of this government's policies the government house leader Mr. Speaker as the member will know and was very supportive there's been a number of initiatives that this Premier has brought forward that would allow for the democratization not only of this place that's been highlighted in some of the measures I talked about yesterday whether it was a record number of private members bills that have been passed then you take note debates but when you talk about funding for political parties and when you talk about the supports part of that those changes Mr. Speaker also allow independent members now for the first time ever in provincial history to raise funds on their own so that they can fight campaigns equal to political parties Mr. Speaker that was a very very important change something that the chief electoral officer asked and has been asking for quite the long time and you know Mr. Speaker look at us we're always willing to as the member for Algoma Manitoulin often says that we're always bridge builders over here we bring people together Mr. Speaker and this with course with so many independent liberals Mr. Speaker this was our chance to build those bridges across the aisle and to give the independence and support they need to maybe maybe once in a while do a little bit better in elections than they have Mr. Speaker let's take a closer look there are only two Ontario MPPs that are not receiving taxpayer money to fund their political operations and their reelection efforts me and the member from Chatham Kent Leamington the governing Ontario PC party now receives 5.9 million dollars annually from the taxpayer the NDP 5 million and the liberal party 2.8 million dollars even the independent members from York Centre and Lanark Front that Kingston received taxpayer funding for their reelection efforts taxpayers in large numbers are losing their jobs and haven't been able to work for over a year but Ontario MPPs think it's okay to use millions in taxpayer dollars to fund their reelection efforts will the government immediately put an end to the wasteful spending of taxpayer money to fund the operations and reelection efforts of political parties and independent MPPs yes or no Government House Leader I guess that's where I'll disagree with the member I don't think that there's been a lot of discussions and campaigns and giving the members both independence and those who still belong to a party the opportunity to approach the people in their writings across the province I don't believe that to be a waste of time Mr. Speaker I actually think it's fundamental to the whole point of us you know being here that's why we campaign that's why we work so hard I note that the measure did receive that look I she mentioned for the first time ever we have independence able to raise funds and campaign have electoral district associations that hasn't happened before but as I say Mr. Speaker I'm not going to stop I know all of us we're going to continue to do all that we can to make this a better place to make democracy work better and if that means building bridges across the island extending the hand of friendship to independence and we're going to continue to do that because it's in the best interest of the people of Ontario the next question Mr. Speaker my questions for the premier the government let more than 25,000 Ontario small businesses go under in the first year of the pandemic before offering financial aid but that aid that was finally offered excluded many small businesses Kyle Sipkin's company in search as part of Ontario's 35 billion dollar tourism industry and provides jugglers, and other interactive entertainment for festivals and special events he says I've fallen through the cracks of all Ontario and federal business support programs I have not received any financial support and my business is still excluded from the new tourism grants we're just looking for fairness the new tourism grants the government is offering will still exclude many businesses like Kyle's and provides funding on a competitive basis rather than for all of those government have against small businesses like insert and why are you creating a hundred games approach to deciding which of these businesses will receive the grants and survive and which you will let die Mr. Heritage, support tourism and culture industries I think the member opposite for his question but as I referenced with my response to the member from Ottawa West Nippian we have just launched this week a 100 million dollar tourism recovery program which is responsible for small business and economic development and trade we launched another 100 million dollars with the minister of finance as well we just put 46 million dollars out the door this week for not-for-profit organizations we funded for the first time in Ontario's history the largest festival and events program in the history of this country with 50 million dollars to over 350 festivals and events which contributed to a billion dollars in the economy strategic investments in the tourism heritage sport and culture industries in order to help these businesses not only survive but thrive I'm sorry for this one particular individual but we are literally helping millions of small businesses and hundreds of thousands of not-for-profit organizations in order to contribute to the economic success and viability of the heritage sport tourism and culture thank you thank you thank you the supplementary question Mr. Speaker the question the answer doesn't answer about the competitive nature of these grants so that not everybody that's eligible will receive the grants businesses are also concerned about the federal wage and rent subsidies ending and that the provincial grants have not been renewed Jeff Cruz the bioconnect the software company operating in the village states the continuous starts and stops of the COVID heavily impacted bioconnect recovery the grants have allowed us to receive or to maintain employment but ending these programs does not line up with the reality of opening the economy we need these programs to continue supporting Canadian owned and operated businesses such as bioconnect the recent Ontario financial advisory report found that this government has received over five billion dollars in federal funding to help small businesses schools and health services to get through the pandemic the last round of provincial grants will be offering another round of grants to support small businesses such as Jeff's and why the long delay to offer more support Mr. economic development thank you very much thank you for the question I must begin by saying how disappointed we are that the member opposite and the parties chose to vote against providing the last 1.4 billion dollars in additional support for small businesses that budget included billions of dollars in supports that have helped families and businesses get through the pandemic this includes an additional 50 million dollars for the Ontario together fund I spoke of earlier to build up our domestic capacity the government the opposition also did not support the 2.8 billion dollar investment to connect homes businesses communities with broadband so that businesses can get through the digital transition they didn't support our enhancements to the regional opportunities investment tax credit which resulted in total tax support for businesses by 155 million dollars Mr. Speaker they supported none of these grants next question the member for our walk in thank you Mr. Speaker and my question is for the minister of health vaccinating will be a major step on our way out of this pandemic Pfizer will soon be seeking health Canada approval for a pediatric vaccine the government at the whole summer to plan for a safe return of our students to school yet we are seeing a surge of cases in our public education system parents shouldn't have to worry that sending their kids to school will endanger the health of their families and they certainly have to be vaccinated but the maximum has been done to keep everyone safe in the school so my question to the minister is what is the government plans for vaccinating children 5 to 7 after 11 sorry Minister of Education thank you very much Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for the question I can assure the member over the past many months we've been working with the Department of Health to give access to the safe vaccine to all families who will want it we have had incredible success with the next age bracket those children 12 to 17 in fact because of the strong partnership with public health units and pediatric hospitals we have one of the highest rates of immunization Canada for young people in fact one of the highest rates of immunization for all eligible citizens in the province would inform the next phase of this implementation when the federal regulator approves it we will stand ready to get it out working with our school boards using our schools and other government assets accessible for all families and encourage individuals to take up the vaccine for their family thank you speaker and the supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker my constituents are worried about the rise of COVID-19 outbreaks really happening in fact in elementary school and my writing is just closed along with three other schools in Ottawa due to the spread of COVID-19 and there are several other schools in my own writing that are experiencing outbreaks vaccination needs to be easily accessible as soon as it becomes available the minister needs to work to ensure our kids get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available and needs to make that vaccine available in school I know you've mentioned that but I'd like to hear about that plan my question is are you speaking with Health Canada to plan when the vaccine is going to be available and what is your plan to make it accessible as soon as possible thank you very much Mr. Speaker I wrote to the federal ministers in March of this year under the eventuality that Health Canada may approve a vaccine for children as young as five is noted asking them to procure sufficient supply and to have a plan to help get facts out to parents around the safety and efficacy of the vaccine what we have done in this province is launch and partnership with the minister of health 650 school-focused vaccine clinics which has yielded one of the highest rates of immunization in Canada to date over 81% have a first dose for our kids 12 to 17 and roughly 73% have a second dose that is a great success we know there's more work to do we're encouraging the safe vaccine on a voluntary basis to more families we've also mandated for education staff that in the absence of being which is our government's preference you will be tested twice a week and launch an additional rapid antigen testing program just yesterday on a targeted basis to make sure our schools are safe they remain open and kids can learn from this province thank you very much the next question is from Niagara Centre thank you speaker through you to the minister of education Hailey Bateman and her family did everything right they did their part, got vaccinated observed all the COVID-19 guidelines just three days into school Hailey and her partner received a notice that there was a COVID-19 exposure in their child's classroom a few days later the entire family was ill there were four, four and five their symptoms were not mild and ranged from vomiting, fevers of 104, extreme fatigue and hallucinations Hailey believes that her children were exposed through an unvaccinated staff member in an email Hailey said that no one will take accountability for the policy failures that led to her children becoming so ill and quote in the end only children are left with the consequences of the adults in charge will the minister step up and do the right thing and finally implement a plan for safer schools that include smaller class sizes improved ventilation and mandatory vaccinations for teachers and education workers and to reply the minister of education thank you very much and of course any individual that faces COVID-19 regardless of their symptoms we send them a very best in the recovery we realize this has been a very difficult experience for so many individuals the chief medical officer of health has confirmed as recently as yesterday that the protocol, the layered approach has been very effective in keeping transmission out of schools he noted that 87% of cases origin the community settings not within our school he noted that our rapid antigen testing program another layered approach brought in yesterday to high risk communities can help mitigate cases from entering the school every single staff member without vaccine which represents a minority of staff within our schools is subjected to mandatory twice a week rapid testing that is the prerequisite of entering our schools we screen our kids and our staff before they enter our schools we've enhanced ventilation in every one of our schools $600 million, 2,000 projects of improving mechanical ventilation 70,000 happy units deployed will continue to do whatever it takes to keep families students and staff safe in this province thank you very much for this morning the government house leader has informed me that it is a point of order thank you speaker just in accordance with standing order 59 I wish to outline the status of business on the return and let me just wish all colleagues and all the team members here who work in the legislature a very happy Thanksgiving on when we return on Monday October 18th we will be dealing with opposition day number one and then bill 5 York Region Waste Water Act on Tuesday October 19th in the morning we will deal with the speech from the throne in the afternoon we will continue with the speech from the throne and PMB ballot item number one standing in the name of the member for Hamilton Center and I'm told that that is to be determined what that bill will be on Wednesday excuse me October 20th in the morning we will continue both in the morning in the afternoon we will continue to debate on the speech from the throne PMB ballot item number two standing in the name of the member for Ottawa South I'm not sure which one it will be I know he might have more than one but I'm sure he'll give us noticed and on Thursday October 21st in the morning we will begin debate on government notice of motion number three we will continue that in the afternoon and we will conclude with PMB ballot item number three standing in the name of the member for Kitchener Center and I'm sure that one still is yet to be determined as well thank you Mr. Speaker thank you very much there being no further business this morning this house stands in recess until 1pm